Two questions about digital cameras (too long for the title)

Alright, I'm looking to drop some money on a digital camera. (No more than $350.)

I already have an older digital camera and I know the basics (aperture, digital zoom vs. optical zoom, etc.) and I've done the research on the stuff I didn't know about to learn as much as I can before I make a purchase. I see this as a serious investment that I want to last for a long time until the camera becomes hopelessly outdated.

With that being said, here is my first question:

Are there any cameras that allow optical zooming while recording using the video function? My camera doesn't, the cameras my friends have don't, and my dad's camera doesn't. Is there some type of hard-as-hell-for-the-engineers-to-bypass limitation in all of the consumer model of camera?

I couldn't find much information on this and when looking at specifications of cameras, it doesn't say anything about this, only if it can record, the framerate, resolution, format, etc.

My second question has to do with the size of the camera vs. the quality of the optical zoom.

First of all, I want at the very minimum 6x zoom, though 10x is preferred. I couldn't care less about digital. (It seems like a lot of cameras start off with a wide-angle zoom and then about the time 3x is achieved, it seems like you only got just a little past where the camera should have started off. I know this is because digital cameras start with a smaller focal length than the standard 35mm focal length and then increase it, but still, it's annoying. Here's some example pictures at the bottom of this page. )

I've been looking at cameras with awesome optical zoom, but it seems like many of them are pretty thick, such as this one. It makes me wonder if the thickness is needed for room for the optical components since it zooms in so far.

HOWEVER, I would also like my camera to be somewhat compact so I can put it in my pocket. It doesn't have to be super-thin, but just small enough that it can fit in my pocket without making it obvious that I have something big in my pocket, you know? Something that's 1.5 inches or less in thickness would be nice.

Then I ran across this camera.

It's compact and has 10x optical zoom. However, it's new on the market, there are no actual user reviews anywhere, and the only page I could find with helpful information was this one. (Please look at the sample photos by clicking on the image on the next page)

My question is this: Is the room provided in the larger cameras necessary to have a decent 10x zoom? In other words, I'm thinking that the reason the size of the cameras with 10x zoom is large is because they have to have the room in it to include all of the necessary optics components to make it decent. Can anyone confirm or comment on this?

This site has an example of the camera's 10x zoom, but it's not high resolution enough for me to tell if it's decent or not. However, this site also gripes about noise in high-ISO ranges, but that seems to be a given with all digital cameras, I've noticed. So, maybe if the 10x wasn't that great, they would have said something?

I'm not going to lie, I really like this Canon PowerShot camera since it has everything that I'm looking for except being able to zoom while recording and some helpful feedback from some people who have used it, but since it's new on the market and there are no user reviews, I'm skeptical to jump on the bandwagon.

So, as a final request, if somebody could give me feedback on all of this, including the size vs. optical zoom issue and being able to zoom while recording, I would really appreciate it! Thanks in advance!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Optical zoom and size are generally hand in hand, since bigger zoom means a bigger lens means a bigger chassis. However, there are some models that avoid this by using different focusing equipment or different lenses. Simply put, you can get a compact camera with great optical zoom, like this one. I own an earlier generation of this series and it's done fine by me, and most reviewers seem to like it as well.

As to your concerns about zooming in video mode, all modern digital cameras should have this feature, so don't worry about it. Graininess at high ISO levels seems standard run for any camera that's just point-and-shoot, so take that as you will.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Sol

Optical zoom and size are generally hand in hand, since bigger zoom means a bigger lens means a bigger chassis. However, there are some models that avoid this by using different focusing equipment or different lenses. Simply put, you can get a compact camera with great optical zoom, like this one. I own an earlier generation of this series and it's done fine by me, and most reviewers seem to like it as well.

Right, that's exactly what I was thinking (bigger zoom -> bigger lens -> bigger chassis) when I was considering the optical zoom vs. size issue. HOWEVER, I did not consider that some models might use different lenses and/or focusing equipment. And yeah, looking at that camera, it seems that a lot of people are happy with it, so I guess I shouldn't be so worried about the quality of the zoom of compact cameras as a whole, though I will need to keep an eye on user reviews, sample photos, etc. Thanks!

Quote:

As to your concerns about zooming in video mode, all modern digital cameras should have this feature, so don't worry about it.

Err, well, all digital camera that I've come into physical contact with were NOT able to zoom while recording video and I really haven't found one that could (the specs on the websites I found for various cameras never said one way or the other.) Even the first review on the camera you linked me to said that it couldn't do optical zoom while recording.

Quote:

Graininess at high ISO levels seems standard run for any camera that's just point-and-shoot, so take that as you will.

Yeah, that does seem to be standard for all cameras and isn't something I'm worried about, though I would like my lowest possible ISO setting to be at least 80.

Also, I read a few reviews on digital cameras as a whole that recommend purchasing cameras designed and manufactured by camera companies (Fujifilm, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc.) instead of electronics companies (Sony, Samsung, etc.) Basically, the reasoning behind this is that overall, the camera companies have the experience in manufacturing cameras that the electronics companies don't - therefore, generally speaking, they put better optics equipment inside the camera. The electronics companies may put good electronics inside of the camera, but it's easier to put good electronics components inside of a camera than it is optics components.

Thoughts?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

@Joe Wiewel

The prosumer camera with manually adjustable zoom lens (just like a DSLR) should be capable of zooming while videoing.

However, if video is more important to you, and you only take a few pics on the side, consider a digital video camera instead of a digital still camera.

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